Of Magical Chances
by The BadAss Writer
Summary: As the happenings of the Chamber of Secrets came to an end, Harry Potter unknowingly purges two pieces of Lord Voldemort that kept him anchored to the world: Tom Riddle's Diary and the one in his scar. This unexpected incident initiated a Butterfly Effect that will change the wizarding world to its very core. Slight AU. Competent and eventually powerful Harry. Harry/Multi.


**Disclaimer:** The original concept, plot and characters used in this piece of fiction belong to J. K. Rowling. I only own the original plotlines that appear on this piece of fiction, from which I am not making any profit whatsoever. Enjoy the chapter and make sure to read the A/N at the end.

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 **Chapter one: Benevolent Venom**

" _I will never forget to wash my teeth again."_

For some reason, that was the first thing that Harry Potter thought the moment he impaled Slytherin's Basilisk through the roof of its mouth with the Sword of Gryffindor. It was understandable if one considered that he was standing less than one feet away, and directly in front, of the gaping mouth of the sixty-foot-long King of Serpents. Its breath was foul, like rotten eggs dipped in vinegar and gasoline and Harry blanched at the odor.

That was when he became aware of the fact that he had also impaled one of the basilisk fangs into his forearm and he hissed sharply in pain as the nerves of his arm were brushed directly by the wicked teeth of the mighty snake. To Harry's adrenaline fueled brain never occurred to simply release the Sword of Gryffindor and pull back his arm. The sword had saved his life -and that of everyone else, so he was not about to leave it in the mouth of the monster. So, Harry, with gritted teeth and another hiss of pain, pulled his arm back with all his might.

"Bloody shite!" There was a crack of something breaking and Harry stumbled back, sword still firmly grasped in his right hand. Harry then watched as the basilisk fell forward with a resounding thud, most likely dead the moment Harry had pierced its brain. Then, when the black-haired boy noticed that the pain from his forearm had not diminished even a slightly bit, he risked a look down to his forearm and groaned.

The fang was still impaled there. And it bloody hurt like a son of a bitch. Harry wanted the damned pain to go away so he reached towards the fang and wrapped his left hand around it, and taking a deep breath, he pulled with all his might. The fang came off with a wet 'squelch' and a splatter of red liquid he recognized as blood and a black substance that had to be the basilisk's venom.

While Harry noticed this, he didn't notice a few tiny droplets of venom that jumped towards his face and magically landed directly on his scar. He surely didn't notice when the black drops, instead of trailing down his face like normal liquid, began to fill his red glowing scar until he had a black thunderbolt on the right side of his forehead. He did notice when it began to burn and he was forced to his knees because of the pain, the Sword of Gryffindor being the only thing that kept him from falling on the floor face first as he refused to drop it even in this circumstances. Because he was screaming in agony he didn't hear a more ethereal, pained and deeper shriek of anguish.

The memory of Tom Marvolo Riddle watched with fascinated wide eyes as a black substance began to leak out of Harry's scar and the memory felt unease as it watched. It had been rendered deeply shocked when it saw Harry Potter slaying the basilisk with a sword and it couldn't find the sense to move and do something to dispose of Harry before he became truly a threat to Lord Voldemort's plans. The memory suddenly felt a deep pain on its being and then there was a sense of loss… of incompleteness.

The eyes of the memory widened further as it realized what had happened. Harry Potter had housed another part of it and it had been destroyed somehow. But, how was Harry Potter a horcrux, when only inanimate objects could be used as such? And what happened just now that another part of Lord Voldemort had been destroyed? The memory wondered, forgetting about the current situation.

That proved to be its downfall.

Harry groaned hoarsely and he pushed himself up with the aid of the Sword if Gryffindor and he stumbled to his feet, hissing when a sharp pain made itself known on his ankle, but he found that ignoring it was a piece of cake when he compared it through what he had just gone through. He had felt like his head had been dropped in boiling water, kept in there for hours and then just as suddenly it was pulled out only to be dropped in soothing cold water. The pain had gone as soon as it had come and there was something all over his face that smell fouler than the basilisk's breath. It made Harry want to take a thousand and one showers.

Twisting his head in the direction of the one that caused all that happened, Harry began to limp towards him, idly aware of how with each step it became easier to walk as his leg tingled warmly with what he knew was his magic. Harry also felt his right hand tingling as it tightened around the Sword of Gryffindor but he ignored it in favor of glaring towards the memory of Tom Riddle a.k.a. Lord Voldemort.

The harsh screech of metal scrapping stone met the memory's ears and it turned towards the sound only for it to gasp and take a step back, suddenly feeling fear for its 'life'. Harry Potter, his face matted black from the remnants of the horcrux and his glowing green eyes glaring with hate directly at him, was limping towards the memory. The dead basilisk at his side, unmoving, only added to the image seeing as it had been Harry who had killed it with the sword he held on his hand.

The memory raised its right hand and pointed Harry's own wand at him. "Don't take another step forward, Potter!" It shouted, cursing inwardly at the stammer on its voice. Lord Voldemort only feared death itself. It was unbecoming of a part of his to not share that fear only. So why did it think that this puny twelve-year-old kid meant its death if it reached it?

Harry paid no heed to the warning and continued limping until he reached the prone Ginny and the dairy that was at her side and was also what was channeling the memory of the dark lord. His eyes narrowed as he leaned down slowly and picked up of the dairy. The memory had said that it was using Ginny's magic to become able to interact with the physical world and that the dairy was what kept it anchored to the world.

Harry knew what to do.

The memory's eyes filled with panic as it saw Harry with the dairy in his hand. "What are you doing, Potter?!"

Harry glared hard at the memory, peening it in place with his suddenly intimidating gaze. "I will make sure you don't threaten anyone again, Tom Marvolo Riddle," spoke Harry with hatred for the man that had murdered his parents. While the real Tom Riddle was hiding somewhere after he had purged him from Quirrel during the Philosopher's Stone fiasco, this memory of his was as good as any to let out his anger and hatred at.

But he needed to get rid of it. Anything related to Voldemort needed to disappear as it could only be used to cause pain and suffering. Without hesitating, Harry flicked his wrist and the dairy was hurled upwards, its pages opening with the careless motion as it went up, reached its peak and began to fall. Harry gripped the Sword of Gryffindor with both hands and when the diary was in front of him he swung the sword at it, separating it neatly in half through the spine.

The memory watched this with wide eyes as Harry's wand fell from its suddenly limp fingers. "No…" It muttered with a harsh whisper. "No. No! NO!" The crazed repeating of the word continued until the memory was screaming in despair, outrage and hatred. It turned towards Harry with the murderous black eyes of a sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle. "Do you know what you have done?!"

Harry matched the glare of the memory with his own but said nothing. He had said everything he had wanted to say and there was no need to further speak to the remnant of the past of his parents' killer.

At Harry's lack of response, the face of the memory contorted into an ugly expression of pure hatred and it seemed ready to launch itself towards Harry but it suddenly paused as a bright spot speared on its chest. Harry and the memory looked towards the diary and the memory saw the same liquid that had oozed from Harry's pouring out of the two pieces of the diary, rapidly forming a pool of wrongness.

Harry grimaced as he noticed an increase of the smell but gave no other reaction. Instead, he focused on Tom as many more spots of blinding white light began to appear all over his body. The hatred on his face quickly became horror and that was the last expression Harry saw on the face of the memory of Lord Voldemort before he disappeared in a bright explosion of light that forced Harry to close his eyes.

Before he opened his eyes, a tremor went through his arm and Harry was forced to drop the Sword of Gryffindor as his entire arms began to spasm erratically. The sword fell towards the floor but before it reached it disappeared in a warping of red and golden flames. Harry didn't notice that as he was more worried about his trembling right arm. Harry let out pained groans as he grabbed his arm and he noticed that, originating from the hole on his forearm that was left there by the basilisk fang when it impaled it, his blood vessels were turning a very worrying black.

As he felt to his knees again, Harry turned towards Ginny and he managed to let out a sigh of relief when he saw her rapidly gaining back the normal color of her skin, meaning that she was no longer in danger. It filled him with content, knowing that he was going to die because of the basilisk venom, the he had managed to save Ginny and that his own death was going to mean something. His only worry was that Voldemort was still out there and was going to come back to terrorize the world one day but at least Albus Dumbledore was going to be here to stop him.

Harry was going to let himself be consumed by unconsciousness but suddenly the warm thrill of a phoenix reached his ears and he looked up to see Fawkes flying towards him. The majestic avian swept in and landed in front of him, cocking its head to the side as it regarded Harry with intelligence beyond most beats. Harry's eyes flicked to his wound and Fawkes fallowed his gaze before another warm thrill, this one understanding, originated from the phoenix.

Fawkes hopped towards Harry, who suddenly felt amused at the imposing bird doing such a silly motion, but he grimaced as a particularly sharp stab of pain made itself known. Harry watched as Fawkes leaned over his wound and not a second later Fawkes began to let tears fall on Harry's wound. Fascinated, Harry watched as his injury healed faster than how it had been caused. First the pain disappeared, then the blackness of his blood vessels receded until it was no more and finally the hole on his forearm closed itself and there was no trace of there being a wound on the first place.

Harry looked at his forearm in wonder before he beamed at the phoenix that had just saved his life. Bloody hell he felt rejuvenated even, is if the pass thirty minutes had not passed at all. "You are one wicked bird, Fawkes," he said with a grin on his face.

Fawkes thrilled happily and preened at the praise.

Harry laughed and shook his head as he pulled himself up to his feet and he turned towards Ginny. Her chest was falling and rising steadily but she didn't seem like she was going to wake up soon. She was probably too exhausted. So, it was a shock when she groaned before her eyes snapped open and the upper part of her body shot up as she began to look around wily with her hazel eyes trembling and her straight red hair framing her suddenly pale face as she looked at the dead basilisk.

"Ginny!" Harry shouted and with two steps he was kneeling at her side and checking to see if she was completely fine. When he noticed that there was nothing physically wrong with her he smiled in relief as she turned to look at him in shock. "I'm so glad you are okay. Ron and I were so worried. We thought that…" He trailed off but he shook his head sharply. The basilisk was dead. The memory of Tom Riddle was defeated and destroyed permanently. And Ginny was safe and sound. There was no need to keep harboring those thoughts.

"Harry?" Ginny questioned with a trembling voice as her body shook with fear but before Harry could respond had wrapped her arms around him and shoved her head into his chest. "Oh Harry! I'm so, so sorry! It's all my fault!" She cried despairingly into his chest.

The black-haired boy flinched slightly at the contact but soon enough he wrapped his own arms Ginny, trying to comfort her. "Don't say that, Ginny. It was not your fault. All the blame falls in Tom. He possessed you and it was not you that used the basilisk to terrorize the school. It was him, not you, Ginny," he said in a firm voice, surprising even himself at the conviction of his words.

Ginny pulled her head back and looked up at him with a tear-streaked face. "But if I hadn't written on the diary and had gotten rid of it the moment I found it in my bag…"

Harry shook his head and pulled back to grasp Ginny by her shoulders. "You couldn't have possibly known, Ginny. No one could have, for that matter. Like I said, the blame falls on whomever gave you that diary and on Tom for being an evil git," he said again firmly and he smiled when Ginny nodded slowly even though she still seemed like she doubted his words. Harry stood up and offered his hand to her. "Come on. Ron is worried sick and we need to tell Professor Dumbledore what happened."

Ginny nodded her head again and grasped his hand to let herself be pulled to her feet. She staggered a little but with Harry's help she managed to stay up. When he made sure that Ginny was not about to fall again, Harry turned around to look for the halves of the Diary, the Sorting Hat and the Sword of Gryffindor but he blinked when he saw that Fawkes had the diary and the hat on its beak and was looking expectantly at Harry. The green-eyed boy shrugged his shoulders, believing that the sword had come back to the hat after it fell on the floor.

Harry smiled at Ginny. "Let's get out of here." And thus, Harry and Ginny walked towards the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets, Fawkes merrily hopping behind them, easily keeping up with them, thrilling occasionally.

The corpse of the basilisk went forgotten and it will stay as such until sometime in the future.

 **.o0O0o.**

"That was quite the tale, Harry," commented Albus Dumbledore as he peered at the boy with twinkling blue eyes from behind his half-moon glasses. Fawkes, perched on his usual spot, gave a thrill and Albus smiled indulgently. "Ah, yes, while I have to admit that the manner in which you acted was incredibly reckless and foolish, I have to commend you for your bravery and willingness to risk your life for those you hold dear. It is a wonderful trait to have, but perhaps thinking things through might be a good thing to consider in the future," he said with an amuse smile that stretched behind his long beard.

Harry blushed and ducked his head at the praise from Dumbledore. He had thought that the praises were going to stop after Ron and he had gotten two hundred points each for what they did along with the awards for special services rendered to the school, but it seemed like Dumbledore was not done. Ron, Ginny and their father had left after thanking profusely for saving Ginny and Dumbledore had asked Harry to follow him to his office, where they were now talking. Harry had then told Dumbledore everything, from forcing Lockhart to aid him and Ron save Ginny when they found him about to flee to Harry using the Sword of Gryffindor to slay the basilisk and destroy the dairy, which resulted in the destruction of Tom Riddle's memory.

Harry then got over his embarrassment and a worried look settled on his face as he was reminded of one that always insisted on thinking things through. "Is Hermione going to be okay, Headmaster? Are the others going to be okay?" He asked, almost frantically. Hermione was his best female friend and terror had gripped Harry when he had found out that she had been petrified.

Dumbledore smiled at Harry in a placating manner. "You needn't worry anymore, Harry. Professor Snape has begun brewing the Mandrake Restorative Draught. Young Hermione and the other that have been petrified by the basilisk will be bake to normal before you can say 'lemon drop'," said Dumbledore merrily.

Harry sighed in relief. While he didn't like Severus Snape because of his not knowing how to actually teach a class, bullying, irrational hatred towards him, blatant favoritism of the Slytherin House and support of Draco Malfoy, Harry had to admit that Snape _was_ a Potion Master of renown and if he was tasked with brewing the potions that Hermione and the others needed to be cured from petrification, then he was sure they were in relatively good hands.

"Now, Harry, there are a few things I find myself curious about and I would appreciate if you could indulge an old man on his queries."

Harry nodded at Dumbledore, easily agreeing. "Of course, Professor. Anything you need."

Dumbledore smiled. "Thank you, Harry." Dumbledore hummed in thought for a second as he rubbed at his beard and began to speak. "I shall be completely honest with you, Harry. The night Voldemort, or Tom Riddle, attempted to kill you he transferred some of his powers to you through the scar he gave you when you survived the Killing Curse. One of those powers was Parseltongue, as you discovered this year." Dumbledore focused on Harry's forehead. "I had suspected that there was something dark about the scar because it remained raw even after hours of being caused but now I can see your magic healing it normally and I am not getting the same dark feeling from it as before."

Harry knew that there was a question in Dumbledore's statement and he hurried to response to the best of his knowledge. "I don't know if this has anything to do with it…" He began hesitantly but Dumbledore nodded at him encouragingly so he continued. "When I killed the basilisk, one of its fangs wounded me. After I pulled it out, my head began to hurt worse than ever before. It had felt like my head had been about to explode but the pain had gone off as soon as it had come so I had pulled it out of my mind because I needed to deal with Riddle first. After we came out of the Chamber with Fawkes help, Ginny pointed out to me that my face was covered in the same ink-like thing that had leaked out of the diary after I had destroyed it. I, of course, washed my face raw until there was nothing left of the disgusting thing." Harry stopped to take some breath back and he looked worryingly at Dumbledore. "Do you think the same dark magic Riddle used on the diary was used on me the night he attacked me?"

Dumbledore didn't let the dread that suddenly gripped his being show on his face. "Perhaps," he allowed himself to say and that was the truth. He was not sure what Tom had done but he had a sneaking suspicion as to just what had happened. He knew that Tom had fallen to depths unimaginable in his quest for power and dominance of Magical Britain but to go that far to prevent his death? Dumbledore shook his head slightly and focused on Harry. "I must investigate this matter more before I give you a conclusive answer, Harry, but thankfully the dark magic was purged from you and the diary. I think that your scar came in contact with the basilisk venom when you pulled the fang out. Let me be the first one to tell you that you were incredibly lucky tonight Harry. I believe you are aware of that, yes?"

Harry nodded his head. "Yes, sir," he responded firmly. Harry knew that it was not his skill with magic that had gotten him successfully through the ordeal. It had been luck. Nothing more and nothing less. Harry knew that he needed to change that as he had not taken his magical studies seriously, which he should've done the moment he realized that Voldemort was not truly dead. He promised himself that starting know he was going to get himself better prepared for whenever Voldemort tried to get to him again, which he was sure was going to happen because the evil git was fixated in him.

Dumbledore inclined his head. "Good. I hope you learn from this experience. Now, I have another question. What happened to the sword?"

Harry cocked his head to the side and peered curiously at the Headmaster. "Isn't it back inside the Sorting Hart, Professor? I thought it came back to it after I dropped it because my arm was being affected by the basilisk venom because when I went to look for it there was no sign of it."

Dumbledore looked at Harry speculatively and he shook his head. "No, is not back on the hat. I confirmed it myself when I couldn't get it to appear when in the best I could do so when I so desired," he commented before he stood up and motioned Harry to do the same. "I believe, however, that we can get the answers we seek after a little experiment. I want you to think of the Sword and when you have a clear image of it, bellow 'Gryffindor!' as if you were calling for him. You might want to raise your hand over your head in case my suspicions prove to be true."

Harry stood up and nodded his head, closing his eyes to help with his focus. Harry began to picture the beautiful sword: its straight thin and long blade that had carved the name of its first owner on it, the golden hilt and guard in the shape of a cross and the shiny rubies it had imbedded on it. The moment Harry had the image clear on his head, he felt his magic tingling all over his body and his hand becoming warm, as if he was reaching for a fireplace. And Harry knew that it was time.

"Gryffindor!" He bellowed as he raised his hand over his head and opened his eyes to witness the sword appearing in a bright flash of fire, settling on his hand as if he had been holding it for the entire life. His eyes widened as he brought down the sword, staring at it in wonder. "Wicked…" He murmured almost breathlessly before turning towards Dumbledore, who was looking at him with twinkling blue eyes full of pride. "What does this mean, Professor?"

Dumbledore rubbed his beard as he inclined his head at Harry. "This means, Harry, that the Sword of Gryffindor has chosen you as its knew wielder and owner. I believe that through the ordeal, your magic resonated with the sword's binding you together for many, many years to come," said Dumbledore musingly as he stroke his beard idly. He believed that there was more to it than that but at the moment it was an explanation that should satisfy Harry's curiosity.

Dumbledore's eyes hardened a little, pinning Harry in place and making the boy gulp. "Now, there is something you must know about that sword, Harry. It was made more than one-thousand years ago, by the Goblin King of that time, Ragnuk the First, and thus it is made of goblin silver and has an impressive set of enchantments. Said enchantments make the sword indestructible and invulnerable to the pass of time. Also, because it is made with goblin silver, the sword imbibes substances that make it stronger. I believe you can deduce the rest from there, Harry."

Harry's eyes widened as he looked at the sword in a new, terrifying light. "I stabbed the basilisk through the roof of its mouth, where the venom sack is located! Does that mean that the sword is now permanently coated with basilisk venom?"

Dumbledore nodded his head gravelly. "Indeed. Before today, the sword had been a very dangerous weapon that could easily injure anyone finding themselves on the wrong end of it. Now? A small cut will suffice to kill anyone. Which is why I must beg you Harry to only call for the sword if your life depends on it, at least, until you learn how to use it without risk of killing yourself with it, do you understand, Harry?"

A pale Harry could only nod his head. "I do, sir," he spoke with a slight tremble to his voice. Something that Dumbledore said got his attention and he cocked his head to the side. "From whom can I learn how to use the sword, Professor?" The trepidation slowly gave away to determined excitement. If he could learn to how to use the sword proficiently, then it meant another way he could defend himself and his friends against Voldemort and his attempts to get his powers back.

Dumbledore smiled amusedly. "I've been told the goblins make good teachers in the art of swordsmanship."

Harry paled even further and grimaced. "I don't think that's going to be an easy thing to accomplish," he said with a nervous smile on his face. A goblin, who were notorious for their dislike towards almost all wizards, teaching him the way of the sword? To Harry that spelled the beginning of a disturbing joke that ended with the him, as the main character of said joke, dead and dismembered, not necessarily in that order.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Nothing worthwhile is," he commented sagely.

Harry remained silent, looking down at the Sword of Gryffindor and seemingly deep in thought. After almost a minute of silence Harry looked up at Dumbledore and spoke with preambles. "He will eventually comeback, won't he, Professor?"

Dumbledore, intelligent and sharp as he was, immediately knew of whom Harry was speaking off. He nodded his head with a frown. "I am afraid that will be eventually the case, Harry. As of right I know I don't know where Tom is hiding and sadly I cannot prevent him from finding a way to regain his strength unless I locate him. The most we can do is prepare for anything that might happen."

Harry nodded his head in agreement. He had already decided to start doing just that. He was going to revise the First and Second Year material during the summer and master everything he could in that time frame. He (Hermione, really.) had investigated the Statute of Secrecy and the regulations of underage magic and as long as there weren't muggles nearby, he could use magic as much as he wanted.

Harry was about to open his mouth to respond to Dumbledore's statement but the old Headmaster sharply looked at his door before it was suddenly snapped open sharply. In his surprise, Harry released the sword from his grasp and when it did the sword disappeared in a flash of fire before whomever had opened the door got even a glimpse of it. Harry turned towards the door and his eyes widened when he saw Lucius Malfoy swaggering into the Headmaster's office as if he owned it and following the obviously evil man was Dobby.

"Dobby! You are the Malfoy's house elf!" He stated incredulously and now everything made sense. Dobby had spoken about a plot that was being performed by his master in which the plan was to kill him. Now, Harry knew that Lucius Malfoy was a bad man, his general disposition and the way he raised his son attested to that, but for him use an artifact that was enchanted with dark magic by Lord Voldemort spoke volumes to the depths the man had fallen.

Harry didn't know of his motives, nor did he care about them, but that moment Harry decided to expose Lucius Malfoy for what he really was. Sadly, he couldn't just start shouting to the world the truth about Malfoy Sr. because the man was a 'respected' member of wizarding society and he had no proof to back his claims. That didn't mean, however, that he couldn't piss the progenitor of his nemesis off.

Lucius gave Harry and then Dobby a scathing look. "I will deal with you later," he promised darkly before he turned towards Dumbledore with a scowl. "I thought we had you permanently removed from your post for incompetence and incapability to keep Hogwarts students safe, Dumbledore. You are not allowed to be here."

Even though he was just insulted, Dumbledore keep a calm demeanor as he clasped his hands behind his back. "Indeed, you did, Mister Malfoy. However, seeing hoy young Ginevra Weasley had been attacked it was requested of me by the School Governors to comeback and deal with the situation. I find it curious that you had to threaten them to get them to suspend me on the first place. It proved to be unnecessary, however, as Mister Potter and Mister Weasley took the situation into their hands and successfully solved it, preventing the death of Miss Weasley," he remarked idly but there was a dry edge to his voice that betrayed his true feelings about that fact

Lucius twitched and paled but other than shooting Harry a dark look he said nothing. Dobby for his part began to make motions towards Lucius, then the Diary and finally the right side of his face. Both Dumbledore and Harry caught this, even if to them it had been obvious who was behind the whole ordeal. Harry because of Dobby's hints since he met the elf and Dumbledore because he was aware of Lucius ulterior motives and modus operandi to go about getting what he wanted.

Seemingly not noticing the byplay, Dumbledore continued speaking, his voice getting drier as he continued. "Voldemort was the one behind the attacks, but he was using a diary to control Miss Weasly to do his bidding, not unlike the Imperius, I have to add. It was a good thing the ploy was foiled, wouldn't you say so, Mister Malfoy? I mean, Arthur Weasley has been trying to pass a Muggle Protection Act and if his own daughter had been found murdering muggles, well, the consequences would've been dire, to say the least."

"Indeed," Lucius forced himself to respond stiffly.

"I find myself curious, however, as to how Miss Weasley managed to get a hold of Voldemort's diary," the Headmaster commented idly as he pierced Lucius with a sharp gaze from his blue eyes.

Lucius gulped and paled further before he snorted. "Why should I concern myself with how that stupid little girl managed to acquire one of the Dark Lord's artifact?" HE asked rhetorically. No one ignored how he suddenly began sweating and grasping tightly his cane.

Incensed, Harry couldn't take it anymore. "Don't take us for idiots, Malfoy! We know it was you who slipped the diary into Ginny's school things because you wanted to stop Mister Weasley from getting more equals right to Muggles!" He shouted, managing to deduce Lucius' intentions from the words spoken by Dumbledore.

Lucius rounded on Harry with a sneer on his face. "Prove it, boy!" He hissed.

Dumbledore coughed and he frowned at Lucius. "While that cannot be done. I will advise against trying such unsavory things again, Lucius, or you might find the efforts of Arthur and me working relentlessly to trace the use of another dark artifact back to you." Dumbledore's tone was firm and had a sense of finality to it.

Lucius seemed ready to pull out his wand to curse both Harry and Dumbledore but he seemed to think better on it when he realized that it was _Albus bloody Dumbledore_ who was standing in front of him. So, he just turned around sharply around and moved towards the door. "Dobby! We are leaving!"

Harry and Dumbledore watched as Malfoy left the office, Dobby dutifully in tow, before the door was slammed close. Dumbledore's frown became more prominent and Harry scowled when they heard Dobby's yelps of pain as Malfoy's thundering steps got further away as he went down the stairs that led to the entrance of Dumbledore's office.

Harry then recalled after his cursory research on house elves what was needed to free them and he got a brilliant idea. Under the curious eyes of Dumbledore, Harry pulled off his shoe followed by his sock and then put his shoe back on. With his black sock held on his hand. Harry turned towards Dumbledore. "May I borrow the diary for a second, Professor?"

Dumbledore smiled at Harry in an approving fashion. "Of course, Harry. Do as you must but remember that I will need it back for research purposes. Also, remember that we will be having a feast to celebrate that nothing too grievous happened."

Harry nodded at Dumbledore with a smile, picked up the two pieces of the diary and hurried out of the Headmaster's office.

Dumbledore watching him go with prideful eyes and he turned towards Fawkes. "Methinks that Harry will be ready earlier than I expected. I shall help him along the way through his growth and prepare him when the time for him to confront Tom comes." Fawkes thrilled happily and Dumbledore smiled as he reached for a lemon drop, which he popped into his mouth.

Back with Harry, the green-eyed boy hurried down the stairs as he folded the sock into itself and put it in between the two halves of the diary, hiding it from view. The cries of pain of Dobby became louder as he came down and hurried pass the gargoyle and he watched with hard eyes as Lucius repeatedly smacked Dobby over the head with his cane.

Harry ran towards them. "Malfoy!" He shouted and both Dobby and Lucius turned towards him with a teary expression and a sneer respectively. "You forgot this back at the office," he said evenly as he presented the diary to Lucius.

Lucius snarled and he snatched the diary harshly from Harry's hands. "One day you will meet the same end as your meddlesome parents, Potter!" He hissed before he shoved the diary into Dobby's hands and he turned around and began to walk away. "Come, Dobby!"

Harry turned towards Dobby. "Open it," he whispered.

Dobby did so and his big eyes widened as he saw Harry's sock. He grabbed it tenderly and stared at it almost in worship. "Master…gave Dobby clothe. Master frees Dobby," he said in an excited voice that carried over.

Malfoy stopped and he looked back with a sneer. "What are you saying you stupid…" He trailed off as his face contorted in horror as he saw Dobby holding the pieces of the diary in one hand, the other held a black sock and finally he saw Harry smirking victoriously at him. Lucius expression became one of hate as he pulled his wand from his cane and began to advance on Harry. "You've lost me my servant, Potter!"

Harry was sure some of that anger was because acquiring a house elf were very, very expensive.

Dobby glared at Malfoy as he dropped the sock and the dairy and he stood protectively in front of Harry.

Lucius raised his wand over his head. _"Avada-!"_

"You shall not harm Harry Potter!"

From Dobby's hand, a bluish transparent pulse of magic originated and before either Harry or Lucius could react, Malfoy was sent flying backwards through the hall. He landed in a crumpled heap after his body did a messy backflip using his back and his head as painful springboards.

Dobby kept his surprisingly intimidating glare in place as he crossed his arm in front of his tiny chest. "You shall not touch Harry Potter!" He declared firmly.

Lucius blinked in shock before he snarled and rose to his feet, looking ready to attack both Harry and Potter. However, Lucius managed to catch a glimpse of a… _disapproving_ Albus Dumbledore staring hard at him from the entrance of his office, wand loosely held on his hand. Lucius paled before he growled and without a word he turned around and walked away, robes bellowing behind him.

Dumbledore nodded to himself and went back up to his office without making a sound.

Harry kneeled and turned Dobby around by grasping his tiny shoulders. He grinned at the elf. "That was wicked, Dobby! I didn't know you could do that!" He exclaimed with a happy laugh.

Dobby's lower lip trembled and tears began to gather up at the corner of his round, big eyes. "Harry Potter bes a greater wizard than Dobby thought! Harry Potter fred Dobby from evil master! Dobby bes in your debt!" Dobby cried as he wrapped his arm around Harry and began to cry into his shoulders.

Harry laughed again and pushed Dobby away gently and he shook his head. "None of that, Dobby. You own nobody nothing. What I did is something any decent human being would've done. Now that you are free, you can do whatever you want."

Dobby scratched the back of his head. "Dobby has nowhere to go, Harry Potter, sir."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"House elves be living with their masters in their houses. When a house elf is freed they are no longer allowed to the house. A free house elf is very rare as house elves usually dies serving their masters, only to be replaced if the masters can afford them. A house elf also be needing their masters magic to survive. Dobby be surviving for a few weeks without master, but Dobby doubts he will found one if how I bes free gets out."

Harry's eye widened and he looked at Dobby in sorrow. "I'm so sorry Dobby. I didn't know that. How can I help?"

Dobby looked bashfully at the floor and he grasped at his big, floppy ears. "Dobby bes willing to become Harry Potter's house elf," he murmured.

Harry looked at Dobby in shock. "I'll gladly do it, Dobby. But there are a few issues with that. First and foremost, I can't really maintain another living being. I'm sure you need food and water and that takes me to the other issue, I spend the summer holidays with my… muggle relatives… and they abhor anything magical. You cannot use magic around muggles so won't be able to defend yourself should they find out about you."

Dobby shook his head rapidly, his ears smacking his forehead and the back of his head in a comical display. "House elves only be needing their master's magic to survive, nothing more. And Dobby can hide really well so Harry Potter's evil walruses and mare relatives bes not able to find Dobby if Dobby be not wanting it. All Harry Potter needs to provide for Dobby be his magic, a servitude contract and a place to stay."

Harry nodded slowly, feeling glad that there was a possibility he could help Dobby out. "A servitude contract."

"A spoken contract that be determining the terms of servitude that tie wizard and elf magically," said Dobby to explain.

"Oh," replied Harry with an eloquent nod. "Alright then. Let's do it immediately. I don't want you to be at more risk of dying than you should. Hmm, let's see. What do you think about working five and half days a week, with one and a half days of rest each week and a salary of sixty galleons a month?"

Dobby's horrified expression made Harry blanch. "Of course not! Dobby asks for seven full days of work, one galleon a month for salary, a rocking chair to sleep and a blanket for cold days!"

Harry twitched and he furrowed his brow. "Six days of work per week, forty galleons a month and you'll get the closet of my room, a mattress and a blanket."

Dobby glared at Harry and crossed his arms defiantly. "Seven days of work, five galleons a month and just the closet and a blanket."

Harry deadpanned. "Alright, seven days of work, you'll get enough money to buy clothes and anything you want or I deem you deserve or have earned it, the closet, a mattress, a pillow and a blanket. That is my final offer."

Horry grasped his chin and thought about it for a second before he nodded and extended his hand towards Harry. "Dobby bes lenient just because it bes with the great Harry Potter that Dobby is making a contract with," he said in resignation.

Harry smiled. "I'm glad we found common ground to stand on, Dobby," he said with amusement and he grasped Dobby's hand. There was a tingle going through his body and Harry felt his magic going into Dobby and Dobby's magic going into him.

Dobby smiled in excitement, glad that he had conveniently forgotten that he could've always bonded himself with Hogwarts' magic and serve the castle and the Headmaster. Dobby, however, was not about to leave Harry Potter out of his sight after he had witnessed how he was treated by Vernon, Petunia and Dudley. The moment he had realized that Harry Potter had freed him from Lucius, Dobby had made a promise:

No one shall harm Harry Potter. No. One.

And that was how Harry Potter acquired a house elf, but more importantly, one of the most loyal friends he will ever have.

And thus, Harry Potter's journey begins.

* * *

This is not 'The BadAss Writer' uploading the story but rather guy behind the character. I want to prove everyone that I can write a 'serious' story and still keep TBW's flare for lemons, humor and everything that make his stories, his. Sorry for the inconvinience.

I'm sure the begging and premise of this story is cliché, however, I have not seen a completed story (or a good one) in which this is explored in depth, which is my aim. I will be focusing mainly on relationships, magical theory and its many applications and when the time comes in the war against Voldemort, which is going to be shorter, but no less gritty. This story will end around sixth years.

The planned main pairing for this story is Harry/Hermione/Susan/Daphne/Fleur/Tonks with Luna/Astoria/Gabrielle, Neville/Hannah, Ron/Lavender, Remus/Hestia and Sirius/Amelia as side pairings. I cannot, however, predict how the story will develop other than the main plotlines and points which are already defined and set in stone.

There will be lemons, but, they shall only appear after the third year.

Am I missing something? I don't think so. If I did I will address it in the next chapter, which is going to be published next Sunday or Monday. I will do my utmost best to stick to weekly updates but I'm not making any promises.

Flames will be ignored.

Constructive criticism and praise to my superiority is very much welcomed.

'Till next time.


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